Pressing machine work support positioning means



1933- e. h. BICKNELL ,1

vPRESSING MACHINE WORK SUPPORT POSITIONING MEANS Filed April 9, 1937 v INVENTOR YGEORGE R. BICKNELL Patented Dec. 6, 1938 PATENT OFFICE PRESSING MACHINE WORK SUPPORT POSITIONlNG MEANS George R. Bicknell,

Antioch, 111., assignor' to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio- Application April 9, 1937, Serial No. 135,908

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in pressing machines, and more particularly to .apparatus for automatically. placing a pressing member in suitable position for dressing work uponrit, followed'by automatic movement of the member to a pressing position,

'In certaintypes of pressing operations it is difiicult for the. operator to dress laundered articles, garments and the. like in position upon a "pressing bed. or buck or other. work support if that: support is ina horizontal position, as is customary-in many types of pressing machines. In such case, his. advantageous to tip or tilt-the pressing bed or work support so as to make the :work dressing operation easier. My present invention provides novel apparatus for accomplishing this purpose. 7

One of the features of my invention is the provision of a pressing machine having a plurality of work supports which are moved to position one of the supports for-coaction with a pressingmemher in. a pressing operation while moving the other Work supportto an open position ata dressing station where work is arranged upon the support. My invention provides in such a machine novel means for tilting the work support at the dressing station into position for more readily arranging work upon it.

My invention also provides a pressing machine having asingle pressing head and a pair of work supportsmovable alternately to place one support in registration with the pressing head and the other support in open position before an operator. With this type of machine I provide novel interconnecting means whereby the movement of the work support in pressing position into engagement with the pressing head at the same time tilts the work support in open position so as to aid the operator in dressing work upon it. My invention also includes the return of the support in open position to a horizontal or untilted position upon opening the press.

Other novel features of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying specification and drawing and the essential features thereof will be summarized in the claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a pressing machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; while Fig. 3 is a fragmental side elevation of the left-hand work support member of Figs. 1 and 2, showing the work support in tilted position.

While my invention is applicable to different types of machines, I have chosen to illustrate the same'as applied to a laundry orgarment pressing machine of the turrettype, as fully illustrated described and claimed in Patent No. 1,997,219 granted April 9, 1935 to Oscar W. Johnson.

This pressingmachine comprises a fixed frame 5 portion Ni -supporting a chest H which: may be heatedinany well known manner, and a rotatable frame portion l2 carrying apair of pressing beds or work supports l3 and I4. One of these pressing beds is movable by frame rotation into registration withthe head: ll, while the other pressing bed is simultaneously moved to 'an open position adjacent an'operator for placing work upon or removing work from that bed.- The beds are arranged for vertical movement relative to $5 the'rotatable frameby means of the pressure pins lfi'and l6 dependingfrom the beds through suitable bores. in the frame iniposition to register with and tobe-raised bythe rod ll of piston 58 which is enclosedzin.asuitablecylinder l9 in thei 0 stationary frame portionlll. In such a-press the frame may be rotated by. hand but I have illustrated the pow'er..mechanism for rotating the frame. and causing-pressure engagement of the registering pressing members i as "provided in the; press of :tl'ieabove mentioned Johnson patent and further reference may be had to this patent for a complete description.

It will be sufficient for the present purpose to state that air for the operation of piston l8 ism supplied-throughconduitl ZO'and controlled by inlet valve 2l and outlet valve-22, the exhaust being by way of conduit 28. The valve stems are connected toani operating lever 24'as shown-in Fig. 1, which lever is pivotedintermediate itsends to the frame Ill and is actuated by. means of pedals 25 and 2B. These pedals are interconnected so that when one is moved downwardly the other moves upwardly. Movement of pedal 25 downwardly causes air to be supplied beneath 40 piston 18, raising rod I! and the pressure pin l5 of a registering bed so as to cause a closing of the press. Mechanism indicated generally at 21 comprises a frame or turret rotating device for causing rotation of the frame l2. This is a spring operated device cocked upon upward. movement of piston I8 and released upon downward movement of the piston, whereupon the device 21 rotates the frame l2 through 180, reversing the position of the pressing beds. A block 28 spring pressed upwardly engages one of the members 29 to hold the frame l2 in indexed position. After the press has been closed, as previously described, by depression of pedal 25, upon the completion of a pressing operation 56 pedal 26 is depressed which reverses the position of valves 2i and 22 and at the same time withdraws the block 28 from the member 29. Air is evacuated from beneath piston ill, the bed in pressing position drops and the device 21 rotates the frame 180 carrying the bed which was formerly in open position into registration with thehead ll. Upon the next depression of pedal another pressing operation takes place. An interlocking pin 30 enters an opening in flange 3| which is rigid on the frame l2 and prevents depression of pedal 25 except when the pin 30 has entered notch 3| insuring that a bed is in registration with the pressing head.

In the above machine which is old, I provide a novel arrangement for tilting the pressing bed in open position to facilitate thedressing of work upon it. To this end, each pressing bed comprises a substantially horizontal base portion 32 and a tiltable workholding portion 33 hinged to the base portion at 34. For the pressing of shirts and the like the portion 33 may be a board provided with padding. In this particular type of press I provide a board for pressing shirts by double lay, meaning that the shirt is placed directly on the board 33 so that both front and back portions of the shirt are pressed in one operation. The board is made large to accommodate shirts of any size and it is therefore difficult for the operator to reach all parts of the board when in its horizontal position.

The means for automatically raising the board 33 to tilted position comprises a lever 35 pivotally connected to the frame l2 at 36 and having its free end connected by a rod 31 with the bracket 38 of board 33. This connecting rod 31 has a swiveling movement with bracket 38 andmay be adjusted at its point of connection with lever 35. Lever 35 also has an ear 39 through which freely passes a rod 40 having a universal connection 4| with the bed I3. The lower end of rod 40 is provided with an adjusting nut and a lock nut. Similar parts are provided for the other pressing bed, such parts being given similar reference characters with the sufiix a.

With the parts in the position of Figs. 1 and 2, it will be obvious that as the pressing bed l3 with work placed upon the upper portion 33a thereof, is raised into engagement with the head H, rod 40 will lift lever 35, thus raising the board 33 of the pressing bed l4 about its hinge connection to the tilted position shown. By the proper adjustment of the parts, the angle of tilt may be adjusted as desired. With the parts in this position the operator arranges the lay of the work upon the pressing bed l4 and then depresses pedal 26. This causes bed I 3 to drop as previously described and this automatically returns the board 33 to the dot-dash position of Fig. 3, whereupon the frame l2 rotates and carries the bed l4 into pressing position. Upon depression of pedal 25 bed 14 rises into engagement with head H and rod 40a will lift lever 35a to tilt the board 33a for the dressing of work thereon.

What I claim is:

1. In a pressing machine, a pressing head, a pair of work supports movable to place one in position for a pressing operation in coaction with said head while placing the other work support in work dressing position, each support comprising a base and a work holder movable relative thereto, and means for coincidently causing a pressing operation between said head and said work support in pressing position and for causing a movement of the work holder relative to its base of said work support in dressing position.

2. In a pressing machine, a pressing head, a plurality of pressing beds, means for moving one of said beds into pressing position for coaction with said head while moving another bed to a Work dressing station, operating means for causing a pressing operation between said pressing head and a bed in pressing position, and means actuated by said operating means for tilting a bed at said dressing station.

3. In a pressing machine, a pressing head, a plurality of pressing beds, means for moving one of said beds into pressing position for coaction with said head while moving another bed to a work dressing station, operating means for causing relative approach and separating movement between said head and a bed in pressing position, and an operative connection between said operating means and a bed at said dressing station arranged for tilting such bed into and out of work dressing position coincidentally with said ap' proach and separating movements respectively.

4. In a turret press, a pressing head member, a rotatable frame, a pair of pressing bed members movable by frame rotation, one into registration beneath said head member and the other into open position at a work dressing station, each bed member comprising a base portion and a tiltable portion, means for raising and lowering said registering bed member into and out of pressing engagement with said head member, and an operative connection between said means and the tiltable portion of said bed member in open position for raising and lowering the said tiltable portion by bed member raising and loweringmovements respectively of said means.

GEORGE R. BICKNELL. 

